Lunch tray holder



l3, 1956 IDSO' 7 LUNCH TRAY HOLDER Filed Nov. 29, 1954 VIII/III M F/ G.4.

l N VENTOR I N G H A M I D S O ATTORNEY United States Patent LUNCH TRAYHOLDER Ingharn Idso, Fargo, N. Dak. Application November 29, 1954,Serial No. 471,826

Claims. (Cl. 311-23) This invention relates to lunch trays and moreparticularly to trays combined with holders adapted to straddle apersons legs and be secured thereby.

It is an object of my invention to provide a simple and economicalstructure for holding a tray securely on a persons lap with a minimum ofeffort.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an extremely simplebracket arrangement to be used in conjunction with a tray.

It is an additional object of my invention to provide an arrangement ofa tray and means for holding it on a persons lap in such a manner thatthe tray may be set at a particular angle with respect to the horizon toprevent tilting, depending upon the length of the'users legs.

in general my invention contemplates a structure comprising a tray and abracket having a pair of relatively slidable parts which can be set togrip the outer edges of the tray by meansrof upwardly extending flanges.Further, the parts of the bracket are formed to extend downwardly in acurved fashion so as to comfortably engage the outer surfaces of apersons legs. The user may, by exerting a divergent pressure on hislegs, cause the bracket elements to grip the tray very forcibly so as tominimize any possible danger of slippage of thetray.

My invention will now be described in detail in conjunction with theappended drawing in which:

Fig. l is a perspective showing the combination of a tray and the trayholder;

Fig. 2 is a section through 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the tray; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section showing the traygripping flange of oneof the holder elements.

With reference to the drawing, my invention comprises a tray 10 havingopposite and parallel edges 12 and 14 formed as cars so as to serveconveniently for handling the tray, in a conventional manner, and beingprovided with the respective notches 16 and 18 which are off-set asshown in Fig. 3 for a purpose to be hereinafter described. The tray isshown as transparent in order to clearly reveal structural details ofthe holder as by looking therethrough in Fig. 1.

The holder for the tray comprises a pair of relatively slidable elements22 and 24 having edge to edge contiguous slidability as will be apparentfrom Fig. 1. These bracket elements each carries a metallic strap whichslidably encompasses the other bracket element. For example, the element22 carries the strap 26 riveted thereto, as by the rivet 28, while theelement 24 carries strap 30 riveted thereto as by a rivet 32.

Each holder element has an upwardly turned tray engaging flange. Thus,element 22 has the flange 36 while element 24 has the flange 38. Theseflanges are adapted to grip the tray 10 and may be provided with notchesas shown in detail in Fig. 4 viz., a pair of horizontal notches 42 and apair of slanted notches 44. The notches l6 and 18 can be gripped withina pair of corresponding notches, for example, 42 or 44, at each end ofthe tray 10, and thus the plane of the tray will be either parallel2,770,514 Patented Nov. 13, 1956 ice or predeterminedly slanted withrespect to the plane of the holder elements which are presumed to lieflat across the users legs. It should now be apparent that the offset ofthe notches 16 and 18 in the tray 10 is required for purposes ofregistering with the notches in the flange members 36 and 38, sincethese flange members are obviously offset with respect to each. otherdue to the width of the holder elements.

Each holder element has a downwardly bent flange for gripping theexterior surfaces of the users legs. For example, the element 22 has theflange 48 while the element 24 has the flange 50. The flanges are curvedas shown in Fig. 2 so as to comfortably adapt themselves around thefleshy part of the users legs; also, the flanges are provided with ribssuch as the rib 52 for rigidity.

The elements 22 and 24 may he slid with respect to each other so as toeither grip the edges of a tray, or to release the edges. Further, itwill be apparent that when the tray is astraddle the legs of a user thegripping force of the flanges 36 and 38may be increased and made verysecure by mere divergent leg pressure against the flanges 50 and 52.Normally, inherent friction of the slidable elements with each other issufficient to maintain a grip on the tray without conscious effort onthe part of the user.

The holder and tray is an entirely practical and usable combination withor without the notch engagement and the invention is in no way limitedto theme of the notch coaction. However, the notch arrangement canperform the useful function particularly shown in Fig. 4

wherein it may be seen that the tray It) (in phantom) can be set at aslant. While in Fig. 4 the tray 10 is shown as having an upward tilt, itwill readily be understood that should my invention be used by a personhaving short legs or by a child sitting in a chair of normal height, thetray 10 will assume a more nearly horizontal and safer position thanwould otherwise be the case. For persons of normal leg length the traycan either be set below the slanting notches so that the notches 16 and18 will merely straddle the outer edges of the flanges 38 and 36,respectively, or the tray can be assembled to the bracket so as to havenotch engagement inthe notches 42. However, in such instances the traymight tend to tilt downwardly when on the lap of a person having shortlegs and accordingly the slanted, adjusted position as shown in Fig. 4would be more desirable since such adjustment would have the tendency tobring the tray 10 to approximately level position.

In retrospect the bracket elements may be made identical to each otherexcept in the instance where slanted notches are utilized. For mostpurposes the notches are not deemed necessary and the tray may simplyrest directly on the upper flat surfaces of the holder elements, beingfrictionally gripped at the edges 12 and 14 by the flanges 38 and 36respectively. However, in the case of invalids and in certain otherspecial applications, the use of notches as described above may bedesirable to add an extra measure of security.

Having thus described my invention, I am aware that various changes maybe made without departing from the spirit thereof and accordingly I donot seek to be limited to the precise illustrations herein given exceptas set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A tray and a holder therefor, said holder comprising a pair ofrelatively slidable members positioned below the tray so as to restacross the legs of a user and having upwardly extending flanges forengaging opposite edges of said tray and downwardly extending flangesfor engaging the legs of said user.

2. A tray and a holder therefor, said holder comprising a pair ofrelatively slidable members positioned below the tray so as to restacross the legs of a user and having upwardly extending flanges forengaging opposite edges of said tray and downwardly extending flangesfor engaging the legs of said user, a retainer element secured to one ofsaid members and slidably encompassing the other of said elements;

3. A tray and a holder therefor, said holder comprising a pair ofrelatively slidable members adapted to rest across the legs of a userand having upwardly extending flanges for engaging opposite edges ofsaid tray and downwardly extending flanges for engaging the legs of saiduser, each of said members having a retainer element secured thereto andslidably encompassing the other of said elements.

4. A tray and a holder therefor, said holder compris ing a pair ofrelatively slidable members adapted to rest across the legs of a userand having upwardly extending flanges for engaging opposite edges ofsaid tray and downwardly extending flanges for engaging the legs of saiduser, said members being in edge to edge contiguity and having flatsides for resting on said users legs, including retainer means securingsaid members together as a unit removable from said tray.

5. A tray and a holder therefor, said holder comprising a pair ofrelatively slidable members adapted to rest across the legs of a userand having upwardly extending flanges for engaging opposite edges ofsaid tray and downwardly extending flanges for engaging the legs of saiduser, wherein said members are slidable with respect to each other andwith respect to said tray whereby said user may effect outward pressurewith his legs against said downwardly extending flanges to causerelative motion of said members for effecting secure gripping of saidtray by said upwardly extending flanges.

6. A tray and a holder therefor, said holder comprising a pair ofrelatively slidable members adapted to rest across the legs of a userand having upwardly extending flanges for engaging opposite edges ofsaid tray and downwardly extending flanges for engaging the legs of saiduser, means intermediate said tray and said slidable members for holdingsaid tray at a predetermined angle with respect thereto.

7. A tray and a holder therefor, said holder comprising a pair ofrelatively slidable members positioned below the tray so as to restacross the legs of a user and having upwardly extending flanges forengaging opposite edges of said tray and downwardly extending flangesfor engaging the legs of said user, means intermediate said tray andsaid slidable members for holding said tray at a predetermined anglewith respect thereto, said means comprising notches in said tray edgescoacting with notches in said upwardly extending flanges.

8. A tray and a holder therefor, said holder comprising a pair ofidentical members, each having an end bent upwardly for engaging an edgeof said tray and an opposite end bent downwardly for engaging the sideof a leg of a user, said members being oriented in opposed directions soas to grip parallel edges of said tray and both legs of said user.

9. A tray and a holder therefor, said holder comprising a pair ofidentical members, each having an end bent upwardly for engaging an edgeof said tray and an opposite end bent downwardly for engaging the sideof a leg of a user, said members being oriented in opposed directions soas to grip parallel edges of said tray and both legs of said user,including means for retaining said members slidably with respect to eachother and with respect to said tray.

10. A tray and a holder therefor, said holder comprising a pair ofidentical members, each having an end bent upwardly for engaging an edgeof said tray and an opposite end bent downwardly for engaging the sideof a leg of a user, said members being oriented in opposed directions soas to grip parallel edges of said tray and both legs of said user,including means for retaining said members slidably with respect to eachother and with respect to said tray, said means comprising a strapcarried by each member and slidably encompassing the other of saidmembers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,008,037 Johnson Nov. 7, 1911 2,255,654 Davis et al Sept. 9, 19412,647,716 Hudziak et a1 Aug. 4, 1953 2,663,603 Newman Dec. 22, 19532,689,157 Di Censo Sept. 14, 1954- 2,697,018 Georgides Dec. 14, 1954FOREIGN PATENTS 731,149 Germany Feb. 2, 1943

